


A Parallel Future

by Waywood



Category: orange - 高野苺 | Takano Ichigo
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 08:33:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7353649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywood/pseuds/Waywood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a parallel universe, events happen exactly as they have in your own universe, with the exception of a divergence at a certain point in time, resulting in a different future than your own. However, despite the changes that occurred in the parallel universe, you cannot ever change the past of your own universe. You must live with the future you have created, and hope that the people who live in the parallel universe can do the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Parallel Future

Naho knelt, tucking her long skirt under her legs. It seemed like just months ago that she and her friends had run the relay at their high school’s festival, but time had flown by, and more than ten years later, she was already beginning to feel the tug of age at her joints. “ _You’re too young to be feeling old already!_ ” She could hear her dad laughing in the back of her mind.

A grumble brought her from her thoughts and back to the child struggling to get up onto the bike she held steady. He was too small for it, but it had arrived early for his birthday, and they didn’t have the heart to tell him no.

“Momma!” He cried, trying to wriggle up into the seat. 

“Alright, alright,” she cooed, wrapping an arm around his waist to hoist him up onto the seat. “Hold on here and put your feet on the pedals — there you go!”

The little boy settled onto the seat, which the group had spent far too much time on trying to get it just the right height. Happily, his feet reached the pedals just fine. Naho kept a hand on his back, watching nervously as he leaned forward to hold onto the handles. It had training wheels, so there was no real danger of him falling over, but the handlebars weren’t quite close enough.. Maybe it would be better to try again in a couple months…

A whoop from the direction of the house dashed any hopes of getting the grinning boy off the bike without a fight, and Naho decided it wasn’t worth the tears. They would just be careful. Azu, Takako, and Hagita were sitting on the front lawn. The two women were grinning and clapping, calling out encouragement to Naho and the boy. Hagita was holding a cell phone in front of his face, pointed at the little boy. Suwa’s irritated voice was coming loudly from the phone.

“ _Hagita! I can’t see anything! I just see your face! It’s my present, and I’m missing everything!_ ”

“You have to flip the camera!” Azu proclaimed, reaching for the phone to fix the orientation, only to have Hagita pull it out of her reach. The two fell into a heap, bickering and each trying to keep the phone for themselves while Suwa yelled intelligibly, his voice taking on a strange staticky quality as the speakers strained to accommodate the volume.

While Naho had been watching the amusing trio, the boy had gripped the handles tightly, a look of determination on his face.

“I’m going!” He called, pushing down hard on the pedals. Suddenly, Naho’s hand was hovering empty in midair, and she whipped her head back around to her son in panic. But he was doing fine, pumping little legs confidently to keep the bike moving forward. In the silent moment as the friends watched, Takako snatched the now shrieking Suwa — “ _I’m out here training, making money for his bike, and now I can’t even see!_ ” — from Hagita’s hands and switched the camera around.

Naho was struck for a moment, her heart skipping at the sight. Kakeru knelt at the other end of the sidewalk, laughing like she’d never seen, his arms outstretched for their son. The four friends on the lawn exploded into cheers, calling excitedly and clapping their hands. 

Naho felt tears well up in her eyes and found herself grinning and clapping along with Suwa, Azu, Takako, and Hagita. “There you go!” She called, “Go to Dad, go to Dad!” The boy rode straight into Kakeru’s open arms, shrieking with laughter as his father wrapped his arms around his son and the bike all at once.

Kakeru lifted him off the bike and into his arms, grinning with his own tears. Naho took a moment, watching the pair, to thank the other her for her words of guidance that led them to this point. Her heart felt so full it could burst. She didn’t know if they could have come to this point on their own, but she hoped that the her in the parallel world would come to find happiness like this too.

**Author's Note:**

> Part of [mirai-orange](http://mirai-orange.tumblr.com)'s countdown to the orange anime!
> 
> The prompt was "past or future".
> 
> Can also be found [here](http://nakewa.tumblr.com/post/146704381638/orange-anime-countdown-57-past-or-future)!


End file.
